Hangin' around: Hammock garden added to McCabe Park

Hammock garden added to McCabe Park

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Jacob Davis said he was inspired to bring a hammock garden to Mountain Home after seeing one last year on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.(Photo: Scott Liles/The Baxter Bulletin)Buy Photo

Arkansas State University-Mountain Home freshman Jacob Davis met with Mayor Joe Dillard and members of the Mountain Home Parks and Recreation staff Tuesday afternoon at the park to officially turn the structure over to the city.

“It’s a great addition to the park,” Dillard said of the hexagonal structure that can support 12 hammocks. “I don’t think they could have found a prettier setting. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

The hammock garden can be found inside McCabe Park, which is located across from the new Harps on U.S. Highway 62/412 West. It overlooks Baker Lake and is adjacent to a pair of wooden pavilions. The canopies of several large oak trees cover the garden, offering visitors shade from summer sun.

“People liked the idea of a place where teenagers could hang out and relax. It’s close to both the high school and the college, so that is nice.”

Arkansas State University-Mountain Home freshman Jacob Davis

Davis,19, said he got the idea for a local hammock garden after visiting the University of Central Arkansas campus in Conway for Arkansas Boys State last summer and seeing an existing garden at one of the university’s residence halls.

Fellow Mountain Home High School senior Logan Reding, now a freshman at UCA, partnered with Davis in the fall of 2016 to begin collecting donations to build a local hammock garden.

“We got a great reception all around town,” Davis said. “People liked the idea of a place where teenagers could hang out and relax. It’s close to both the high school and the college, so that is nice.”

Reding, 18, had class at UCA on Tuesday afternoon and was unable to attend the meeting to turn the garden over to the city.

“I spoke to him by text just a little bit ago, and he’s sad he couldn’t be here for this,” Davis said. “He’s been a big part of it.”

The garden features six blue poles arranged in a hexagonal shape, with a single gold-colored pole in the middle. Hooks on the poles allow for park visitors to arrange six hammocks radiating out from the center, and another six hammocks can be added by tying the ends to the exterior poles.

Dillard said the idea of hammock garden was new to him, but said his grandchildren were familiar with them.

“It’s new to me, but it’s not new to the younger generation,” he said.

The final touches to be completed before it was turned over to the city included adding landscaping timbers and pea gravel to the garden’s base. The metal poles were installed earlier this year, and have already been used by park visitors.

“I would come by here in the summer, and I’d see people out here every day,” Davis said. “They would buy their own hammock, then set it up out here.”

Leftover funds from the project will be donated to the City of Mountain Home to help support its Parks and Recreation Department and to the Mountain Home High School’s Environmental and Spatial Technology program, of which Davis and Reding are alumni.